


Trailblazer

by mayachain



Series: Wraith Queen Teyla collection [5]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Character Study, Cultural Differences, Future Fic, Gen, Leadership
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 18:50:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16770820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayachain/pseuds/mayachain
Summary: Admitting to failure is not the Genii way. A leader's musings.





	Trailblazer

Admitting to failure is not the Genii way. Admitting to failure is how Genii leaders die. Ladon holds that failing to admit to failure is worse and he prides himself on having ousted Cowen for this double deficiency with extreme prejudice.

Ladon is also self-aware enough that he must at the very minimum admit the potential for failure to himself. He has vowed to foresee the path to implosion before it happens as best he can and then do his utmost to stave said hazard off. This is how he comes to the conclusion that while the Genii have to appear strong they cannot do so while antagonizing the Lanteans too much.

Refusing to change one’s path leads to defeat if one is not careful enough – if one has not envisioned the path toward the future well enough. It’s what got Kolya killed – how Kolya almost got them all killed – and what ensured that Cowen had to die, and what will soon be wiping out those Wraith that remain unwilling to deal with Teyla Emmagan. 

The key, Ladon finds when none of his people try to murder him hard enough to stick, is not to admit to failure but instead to explore a new path, a better path. The old path was all well and good but behold, this one is worthier, and no, what came before was not a waste of time and effort – and lives – because it brought us _here_.

Failure, curiously, is what ultimately gains him the Lanteans’ cooperation, not the show of strength he intended. Not coercion. He learns that in the right circumstances speaking of it can be more than a shameful admission: It can turn into acknowledgment, into a stepping stone toward moving on. The list of disasters on the Lantean’s side is rather impressive as well.

Dealing with Woolsey, Sheppard and Lorne is not giving in. It’s not retreating. It’s taking a step to the side, it’s forging a path that is shifting ever more.

.


End file.
